Raegan and Ron had a 4 day weekend so we loaded up the family (including Baxter) and decided to explore other parts of Denmark. First we drove about 3 hours west of here to the largest island of Denmark called Jutland for a visit to Legoland for 2 days. We had not been to a Legoland and I thought it was a great park - the rides were good and all the Lego structures/scenes were really amazing.
We discovered that Raegan is super brave - she went on ALL the rides she was tall enough for - which at her height is most. These were huge roller coasters - Ron and I were really amazed she wasn't scared. The top picture here is the Polar Express - which she says was her favorite. Part of this ride takes you inside in the dark, stops the ride and then the track underneath you drops out and it's a big fall. It startled me and Raegan said it was scary but wanted to do it again!
We also learned that Wyatt is a chicken - he doesn't like anything resembling a roller coaster. So we didn't force him of course and there was plenty for him to do that he really enjoyed.
The flowers in the park were really pretty this time of year
Wyatt's favorite area was Lego City - lots of rides with wheels. The rides there
were just his size so we even let the kids go on the rides together without Ron or I.
Both of the kids loved Mini-land - so did I actually. This is where the incredible Lego scenes were. They had scenes like the Netherlands in the 1800s, Copenhagen, an airport, and this one below was Wyatt's favorite - he stood here for a really long time mesmerized. All the scenes had boats, trucks, trains, airplanes, etc moving about on the roads, rails, or waterways.
So we discovered while we were staying at Legoland in Billund that Baxter is extremely traumatized by his flight over to Copenhagen. We booked last minute and so had to stay at a hotel a mile off the Legoland property. We didn't know it was by an airport - who'd have thought there was an airport in this very rural area in Denmark, much less one flying large planes in and out all day. Baxter would not relax - he was panting and shedding and wouldn't even go to the bathroom for the duration of our one night stay. Until we realized the issue, we thought he was just not enjoying traveling with us - but then once we left the hotel and moved onto our next destination - not near an airport - he calmed down completely and returned to his old sleeping self. Poor guy! He apparently despises hearing airplanes and gets completely freaked out. Here is is riding in the car...he did not enjoy riding between the kids in the back (no space in the little car) so rode on the floor with me instead.
So we left Legoland and started back towards Copenhagen and stopped on the island of Funen. This is a place a lot of Danes go on holiday as its only about 2 hours from the city - there are beaches, castles and its the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson so there are quite a few museums related to that. We didn't get there until late on Friday so our options were limited. We went to one of the places related to HC Anderson - it was a little village that was constructed to look like where HC Anderson grew up. It was made of actual historic buildings from all over Denmark moved here to make this village - farms, hospital, school, jail, etc.
Ron enjoyed scaring the kids by popping out and being a ghost amongst all these dummies they had in the buildings.
The next day we decided to head out to Egeskov Castle - still on the island of Funen - and were expecting just another castle but this property was great - there was a ton to see and do and the gardens were just beautiful.
This is Wyatt making his shooting noise - he loves cannons.
This castle had the largest dollhouse collection in the world - Raegan loved it.
There was also a huge toy collection from the past hundred or so years, as well as cars, planes, trucks, carriages, etc. collections. Very interesting!
And then there was a garden maze, which we did not enjoy. It beat us. We thought it would be simple and take a few minutes so we didn't make Wyatt go in the stroller...so I got to carry him the whole time (only wanted Mommy) and Raegan whined as Ron kept running ahead to try to find the path out or some shortcut. It was fun!! The big "prize" at the end was getting to go down the big slide.
There was a huge playground area that Wyatt played at while Ron and Raegan braved the big Swiss Family Robinson-like bridges up in the trees. I gladly stayed down with Wyatt...didn't really feel like having zip line flashbacks (from previous vacations)!
To end the trip, we stopped by a little beach town on Funen before heading back. The kids enjoyed collecting shells. We will use them to make shell necklaces at Raegan's upcoming 5th Mermaid birthday party.
The drive through Denmark was really pretty - here is their bluebonnet equivalent - this is what the roadsides looked like the whole drive.
And here is a picture of the bridge over back to Zealand (where Copenhagen is) that we had the privilege of paying $40 each way to cross.
It is awesome to see that you guys have so many awesome tourist things you can do around you. I bet the kids (and you guys) love seeing all of the new places and experiencing the different cultures!
ReplyDelete